Nmap Network Scanning

UDP payloads: nmap-payloads

Chapter 14. Understanding and Customizing Nmap Data Files

UDP payloads: nmap-payloads

The nmap-payloads file contains the
protocol-specific payloads sent with some UDP probes. UDP scanning is
difficult because most services don't send a reply to an empty probe,
making it impossible to distinguish open and
filtered ports. For some ports, Nmap knows a payload
that is safe to send and tends to elicit a positive response. The
payloads are stored in this file.
Example 14.5
shows a sample payload entry.

Each entry begins with a protocol name (only
udp is supported), followed by a comma-separated list
of ports. After that comes the payload data, as one or more C-style
quoted strings that will be concatenated. Comments preceding each entry
typically say what the probe means and what kind of response is
expected.